Druzi is #1 for "пошук друзів" in Ukraine's App Store. Nobody types that. The word Ukrainians do type, "знайомства", is the one the app says it isn't.
Druzi ("Friends") launched in 2026 with six ratings, and it already ranks #1 in the Ukrainian App Store for "пошук друзів" (friend search), #2 for "друзі" (friends), and #3 for "нові друзі" (new friends). Most apps never get rankings like that. The trouble is what's behind them. Type "пошук друзів" or "знайти друзів" (find friends) into the App Store and it doesn't suggest a single completion. Google Trends puts "знайти друзів" at 1 to 4 out of 100, measured on the same scale where "знайомства" (meeting people, the everyday word for dating apps) sits between 51 and 66. Druzi has taken the top spots in a part of search that almost nobody uses.
What Druzi actually does
Druzi matches people for friendship using what the app calls "частинки життя", or pieces of your life: the films, series, books, games, and music you like. You build a profile, add your favorites, tap "Find friends", and get people who share them. Version 1.0.7, updated September 29, 2026, adds Steam, Apple Music, and YouTube Music imports, anime and Twitch/YouTube categories, voice and video calls with screen sharing, and a request step that allows up to three messages before the other person accepts. The listing is Ukrainian only. It's explicit about positioning: "a platform for friendly communication, not romantic dating." In the same update, though, the search filter gained a "щось більше" (something more) option alongside friend, girlfriend, and friends. That matters for the keyword question below.
On Google Play, an app called "Друзі" (package druzi.app, publisher name "Druzi") went live on September 5, 2026. It has the same name and the same "first Ukrainian app for finding friends" pitch, so it appears to be the Android version. Google Play shows 35 installs.
The chart is closer than it looks
| Store | Chart | Druzi |
|---|---|---|
| App Store UA | Social Networking, top-free (top 100) | not in chart |
| Google Play UA | Social, top-free (top 200) | not in chart |
Ukraine's Social Networking chart is mostly messengers. WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, Signal, and Messenger all sit in the top 10, and according to Pulse the top 10% of apps hold 96% of the category's reviews. The #1 app, Bump, with 21K reviews, isn't a competitor either. It comes from the team behind Zenly and shares your location with people you already know, so it doesn't help anyone meet new people. Apps for meeting new people do show up further down, though. Boo ("Dating. Friends. Chat.") is #23. And Globi: Find Friends sits at #20 with 12 reviews and a 2.75 rating. A friend-finding app with a dozen reviews can reach the top 20 here. Druzi isn't far behind on reviews, which suggests the gap is about installs coming in through search, not about the app itself.
App Store search: first place in a quiet part of search
| Keyword | English meaning | Druzi, App Store UA | Autocomplete demand |
|---|---|---|---|
| пошук друзів | friend search | #1 | none |
| друзі | friends | #2 | yes, mostly other things |
| нові друзі | new friends | #3 | not suggested |
| знайомства україна | meet people Ukraine | #46 | yes, #1 suggestion |
| спілкування | communication, chatting | #68 | — |
| друзів | friends (genitive) | #69 | — |
| чат знайомства | chat, meet people | #77 | yes |
| знайти друзів | find friends | not indexed | none |
| знайомства | meeting people / dating | not indexed | yes |
| make friends | — | not indexed | yes, crowded |
| find friends | — | not indexed | — |
| друзі за інтересами, спільні інтереси, аніме, компанія, друг | friends by interests, shared interests, anime, group of friends, friend | not indexed | — |
The top three rows are all the words in Druzi's own title, and the App Store gives the title more weight than anything else on the page, so those rankings are expected. What matters is whether anyone searches those words. For "пошук друзів" and "знайти друзів" the App Store returns no autocomplete suggestions at all. In practice, that means almost nobody types them.
"Друзі" on its own does get searched, just mostly for other things. The App Store completes it to "друзі наш край" (a retail loyalty app), "том і друзі" (Talking Tom), "ігри для друзів" (games to play with friends), and "карта друзів" (friend map). On Google Trends, the top related search for "друзі" is "друзі серіал", the sitcom Friends. Holding #2 for "друзі" is good for brand searches, but most people typing that word are looking for something else. The #1 result is DRUZI, an unrelated shopping app with 43 reviews.
Boo shows where the real search volume is
| Keyword | Druzi | Boo — Dating. Friends. Chat. |
|---|---|---|
| друзі | #2 | #3 |
| пошук друзів | #1 | not indexed |
| нові друзі | #3 | not indexed |
| знайомства | not indexed | #9 |
| знайомства україна | #46 | #8 |
| чат знайомства | #77 | #26 |
| спілкування | #68 | #15 |
| make friends | not indexed | #4 |
Boo is the closest big competitor in this search space, and it's built on a similar idea. Its listing promises to help you "make friends and meet new people by personality", "for dating or friendship", with interest communities where people meet over shared interests. Where Druzi matches you on the films and games you like, Boo matches you on personality type. The difference is in positioning: Boo puts friends and dating side by side in its title, and Druzi rules dating out. Boo has 20K ratings in Ukraine and sits at #23 in the Social Networking chart. Look at where it ranks: "знайомства", "знайомства україна", "спілкування", "make friends". It doesn't rank for "пошук друзів" or "нові друзі" at all. Boo's metadata targets the terms people actually search and ignores the ones Druzi is winning.
"Знайомства" is a tricky word for Druzi. In Ukrainian it means getting acquainted, meeting people, but in app-store usage it mostly means dating apps. That's why Druzi, which explicitly says it isn't for dating, avoided it. Still, Google Play suggests "знайомства і спілкування" (meeting people and chatting) as a completion. Google Trends shows "знайомства" holding steady at 16 to 21 every week for six months, with no seasonal dip. It's the term Ukrainians actually use when looking for new people, and since Druzi added the "щось більше" filter, the app is no longer purely about friendship anyway.
Google Play: 35 installs and a one-word name
| Keyword | Druzi, Google Play UA |
|---|---|
| друзі | #2 |
| druzi | #19 |
| пошук друзів, знайти друзів, нові друзі | not in top 30 |
| знайомства, спілкування, друг | not in top 30 |
| make friends | not in top 30 |
Google Play only shows the top 30 results for a search, so "not in top 30" here doesn't necessarily mean the app isn't indexed. It means a user scrolling the results won't see it. On iOS the title "Друзі - пошук щастя" brings in "пошук" (search) and gets the app to #1 for "пошук друзів". On Android the name is just "Друзі", and that single word is the only one it ranks for. Even its own transliterated name, "druzi", puts it at #19, behind DRUZI the shopping app (170K installs) and Discord.
Google Play's autocomplete for "знайомства" is much longer than the App Store's: "знайомства україна", "знайомства безкоштовно" (free), "знайомства і спілкування", "знайомства київ", plus competitor names like "boo знайомства" and "bumble знайомства". On Google Play, "знайомства" is clearly a strong search term, and Druzi isn't in the top 30 for any version of it.
What this means for a six-rating app in its home market
- Don't confuse #1 with demand. "Пошук друзів" and "нові друзі" cost nothing to keep, since they're already in the title, but they won't bring installs. Treat them as a bonus, not the plan.
- Decide how to handle "знайомства", then commit. The word in Ukrainian covers meeting people in general, and "знайомства і спілкування" is a real autocomplete phrase. Putting it in the subtitle or keyword field, alongside "friends, not dating" in the description, would let Druzi compete where Boo already ranks #8–9 without changing what it is.
- Add English keywords. The listing is Ukrainian only, so English terms like "make friends" and "find friends" have nothing to rank on. In the App Store, "make friends" autocompletes to a dozen competitors, including "bamos: make friends by hobbies", which is very close to Druzi's concept.
- Rename the Google Play listing. "Друзі" alone wins one word. Something like "Друзі: знайомства за інтересами" or "Друзі: знайти друзів, спілкування" uses the Play title the way the iOS title already works, and the Play short description is the next place to add "знайомства" and "спілкування".
- Aim for the chart. Globi is #20 in Ukraine's Social Networking chart with 12 reviews. For Druzi, a burst of installs from anime, gaming, or book communities could matter more than another keyword, and the interest categories the app is built around are a natural way into those groups.
Data pulled from live App Store and Google Play search, autocomplete, charts, and Google Trends via Pumf.it on October 6, 2026. Search positions change daily, and a new app's rankings move faster than most. Google Play search is visible only to the top 30, and its install count is Google's own global figure. The Android app "Друзі" (druzi.app) is treated as Druzi's Android version based on its name, pitch, and launch timing. This is a read of public store data, not a critique of Druzi or Boo as products. Druzi's interest-based matching is a thoughtful idea, and the gaps described here are fixable metadata work, not product flaws.